Human Rights Council
Minority Rights in Africa
Human rights in Africa are extremely poor. Many minority groups have been oppressed for years. In addition to totalitarian governments being more common than democratic ones, various peoples are treated awfully. Perhaps the most famous case of human rights abuses in Africa was South Africa’s apartheid policy of racial segregation, which was combated in 1994 by Nelson Mandela. Nonetheless, oppression continues across the indigent continent. One major group that is hurt consistently is women, who are often circumcised against their will. Although several countries have deemed this atrocity unlawful, it continues to be a major problem throughout the continent. Some countries have done nothing to combat domestic violence. Perhaps the most prevalent human rights issue in Africa other than the genocide in Darfur is the oppression of homosexuals. Several countries have deemed homosexuality illegal. Most recently, it has been exposed that homosexuals are being executed in the nation of Uganda. Although vicious hate crimes exist all over Africa, Uganda’s official executions of gays and imprisonment of those who associate with them is perhaps genocide in and of itself, the majority is systematically killing a minority in this nation. Uganda forbids landlords from renting to anyone they suspect of being homosexual. The proposed bill calling for harsher punishment “up to and including the death penalty” was the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009. Most African countries either have named homosexuality illegal or do nothing to stop brutal violence and imprisonment of gays. Some of the African nations where homosexuality is illegal are Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Somalia, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and of course Uganda. Additionally, several nations declare only male homosexuality illegal, which is unjust because it stands for both homophobia and sexism. The African Commission and Human and Peoples’ Rights was founded in 1986. With the creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2004, the Commission will have the additional task of preparing cases for submission to the Court's jurisdiction. In a July 2004 decision, the AU Assembly resolved that the future Court on Human and Peoples' Rights would be integrated with the African Court of Justice.